Concorde flyng today

[Final 3 Greens]

A BA Concorde left 27L at LHR circa 1050 for a sortie over the Atlantic and then recovery for some training flights at Shannon.

Lovely sight :D

[gordonroxburgh]

The crew for flight 9185P were:

Captain Mike Bannister
Captain Les Brodie
Senior Engineering Officer Peter Carrigan
Senior Engineering Officer David Hoyle

35 or so circuits will take place at Shannon, with a return to LHR rumored to be around 22:00 tonight (7th)

I have to admit I got a bit caught out on where I waiting to take some pics, She only used about 2/3rd of her usual LHR run as she was pretty light with hardly any PAX (Just the crews for the training flights) and very little fuel.

It was good to see BA looking after the crews though!!! What was next to Concorde this moring at LHR....The catering truck

[Irishboy]

From Yahoo...

BA Concorde test flight heading for Ireland

LONDON (Reuters) - A British Airways (LSE: BAY.L - news) Concorde is scheduled to land at Shannon Airport in Ireland today after a 70-minute test flight, the second at supersonic speed since the aircraft were grounded after last year's catastrophic crash near Paris.


The "Alpha Foxtrot" flight includes half an hour at Mach two -- twice the speed of sound, a BA statement said on Tuesday.


"This enables the crew to complete a supersonic flight cycle including all the checks and procedures," BA said, adding that flight crew training at Shannon Airport would include up to 35 take-offs and landings.


"Shannon is being used for this training as it has the required runway length and capacity and has been used before for the same purpose."


A first BA Concorde test flight took place on July 17.


BA plans to resume commercial Concorde flights in September just over a year after one of Air France's supersonic passenger planes crashed outside Paris, an Anglo-French Concorde working group said last month.


BA itself would only confirm these plans are for "late summer".


Concorde aircraft were grounded a year ago after flight AFR 4590 plunged into a hotel in the town of Gonesse near Paris shortly after take-off from Charles de Gaulle airport, killing 109 people on board and four people on the ground.


Since the grounding, engineers have been busy on such tasks as designing tougher tyres and strengthening fuel tank casings.

[Bunty Boy]

Anyone know if concorde will be doing any tests flight at Prestwick in the near future. Heard it has been used in the past for trainees and though it might get included in the reintroduction schedule. I just want to see one in the air!

Bunty :)

[sgt.culpepper]

Yes Concorde A thousand welcomes to Shannon. Great to see you back and next time hope you will have payload. Training sched seems to call for three cycles today at 14:00, 15:30 ,and 17:00 , and a similiar effort tomorrow. Good luck to all aboard It's a real thrill

[The Fat Controller]

Very unlikely Concorde will return to Prestwick, the anti-noise lobby in Troon was one of the reasons it left and unless it's been fitted with hushkits doubt it will be back !!
Also, it would have to fight the Ryanairs who always seem to want to land with a tailwind if it means they can get 31 and taxi straight to the terminal......

[Bunty Boy]

Darn,

Guess I'll have to wait till I go down south then. Thanx anyway TFC.

Bunty :(

[Preppy]

Just wondering how Concorde can be doing crew training without a valid Type Certificate and hence no C of A. :)

[ 07 August 2001: Message edited by: Preppy ]

[fen boy]

Preppy - the type certificate was never taken away. The one aircraft being used now has a special CofA.

[Silver Tongued Cavalier]

She's doing circuits as we speak, sharing the circuit with a 146! Looks like all that time off for the guys seems only like a few days!! She looks as great as ever, jeeez that viewing gallery is pretty busy though.

STC (at a rainy airfield in Ireland)

[RICHARDTODD]

Reference G-BOAF flying cicuits in SNN.
When does she return back to LHR ?? Any clues to an ETD or ETA??
I waited from 2030-2200 UTC yesterday at LHR eastside to catch a nice glimpse, but nothing!

[Preppy]

fen boy.

Concorde had its type certificate cancelled. I know, 'cos I saw a copy of the letter!

As far as I know, it still does not have a valid type certificate!

[fen boy]

Preppy, the CAA asked for the individual certificates of airworthiness back for each individual Concorde (each aircraft has a CofA the aircraft type has a type certificate.) These were given back by BA and are currently held by the CAA.

[gordonroxburgh]

She arrived back at LHR today at 17:48UK....15mins after I gave up waiting!

Concorde ops seem to always be using south Runway, no matter what other traffiic is doing. Today G-BOAF landed on 27L while everone else was on 27R...anyone know why?

[ 08 August 2001: Message edited by: Gordo. ]

[Gonzo]

At the moment Concorde has to use 27L/09R whatever config we're on because of the resurfacing being carried out on 27R each night. The bit on the runway where the new surface meets the old surface is slightly ramped, and apparently Concorde's undercarriage will not take the stresses.

Gonzo

[OneWorld22]

The captain of that flight, Mike Bannister said on the news that he was delighted with the very warm response they got from ATC, other aircraft in the vicinity and the throngs of people who showed up to welcome them. SNN is ideal because of it's proximity to the Atlantic and it's low runway utilisation means lot's of touch n' go's.
I thought they'd be staying there longer, give them a chance to enjoy a few drinking sessions in the locals!!

Concorde will always be welcome in Ireland.

[The Guvnor]

It's a great shame that the noise lobby in Troon blocked it from using PIK...

http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/money/graphics/2001/08/09/calex09.gif

[eicjc]

Nice to see you back Concorde. The sky just is not the same without you.

[GustyOrange]

Quality posting Guv, not read the Telegraph recently, really missing Alex!

Just going back to the first BA flight anyone, was Mike Bannister not sitting in the wrong seat ? I'm sure the photo I seen had him sitting on the right.

[gordonroxburgh]

That would be correct on the right seat.

That flight was under the command of the manufacturers (Airbus UK) and not BA under the CAA's B condition that the flight was flying under.

I felt it was rather strange as you would have thought that the most experienced Concorde pilots would be flying left seat, but rules are rules as far as the authorities are concerned, even if they can be a little pedantic at times!

[GustyOrange]

Gordo, it does sound a little strange. I didn't realise that there would be someone from the manufacturers with enough experience to captain the flight.
:confused: :confused: :confused:

[Wycombe]

Gusty,

I think you'll find he's an ex-BA Concorde Captain!

[fen boy]

If you are talking about the first BA test flight then with Capt Bannister was Jock Reid, CAA chief test pilot and current Concorde pilot.

[GustyOrange]

I get the picture now, cheers guys!

Apologies for the uninformed questions.
:)